TDOT employees have two close calls in one week

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) — Two employees at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) came very close to a bad ending in one week.

Friday, August 2, 2024, a TDOT HELP truck stopped on Interstate 640 West in Knoxville to remove debris from the road.

When the TDOT driver exited the vehicle and made way to the piece of debris, a driver on the interstate lost control of their vehicle, and crashed into the median, nearly hitting the TDOT employee.

He quickly ran back to his vehicle to assist the driver.

The driver was taken to the hospital and is expected to be ok.  That dashcam footage can be found here.

TDOT Truck Hit on I-24 / TDOT

Then on Thursday, August 8, 2024, in Coffee County, a TDOT HELP truck was hit by another vehicle sitting in traffic.

Everyone from this incident is ok.

TDOT is urging drivers to slow down and pay attention to the road.

So far this year, TDOT has reported their vehicles and equipment have been hit 73 times, 15 of those incidents involve HELP trucks.